County to study disparity among MWBEs, veterans

By: Adina GennJune 21, 2019Comments Off on County to study disparity among MWBEs, veterans

There are 40,000 businesses in Nassau County that are owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans. But according to Evlyn Tsimis, deputy county executive for economic development, there’s a gap of information as to who these companies are, which services they can deliver and other information.

This can lead to missed opportunities for both the county, in meeting its intended goals to work with MWBEs, and for the businesses that want to do business with Nassau.

So the county aims to issue a request for proposal in late summer to conduct a disparity study to help expand the pool of qualified vendors that are participating in government procurement.

Nassau has “an estimated 40,000 minority-owned businesses in the county, but we don’t have comprehensive information on what goods and services they can offer, or how they are faring in neighboring markets,” Regina Williams, acting executive director of the Office of Minority Affairs, said in a statement.

The last time the county conducted a disparity study was in 2003, and since that time the number of minority-owned business has increased.

Now there is bipartisan support from the legislature to fund a disparity study. The county’s capital budget includes $500,000 for the study so that it can collect data about the businesses owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans.

But before issuing the RFP for the study, the county is seeking comment from the community by issuing a request for expressions of interest.

Officials “want to first get input from a wide array of experts and stakeholders to make sure we get robust participation in the effort and that we get it right,” Tsimis said.

And through the RFEI, the county aims to gain insights on “capacity building in the crafting of the county’s RFP,” according to a press release about the upcoming study.

The county is holding an information session for interested parties on the RFEI process on Friday, June 28 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Details about the process is also available online.

In responding to the RFEI, participants will be asked to provide up to five pages of information. The RFEI is due July 19. And insights from the RFEI process will be incorporated into the final RFP, Tsimis said.

County Executive Laura Curran said in a statement that Nassau has “so much more potential to tap into, and this effort will help Nassau get the data we need to set meaningful participation goals and help build capacity amongst our minority, women and service-disabled veteran businesses.”

“This is a vital step Nassau County is taking to identify where we are falling short and provide a roadmap for positioning” businesses owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans so that they achieve “greater success in winning County contracts,” Williams said.